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HOW TO BECOME A SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATION – An Introduction

Over the last decades, information technology has revolutionised the way people
communicate and interact, creating a New Economy. The Internet has made
information widely available and accessible to everyone, empowering curiosity and
influence. Now, curious minds can be limitless and free, regardless of their origin, age
or gender. However, organisational models have largely stayed the same.

This New Economy has brought the need to tap people’s curiosity, quest for
knowledge and understanding in order to develop a sustainable society. Knowing that
organisations are at the core of our society, the creation of a transparent, accessible,
dynamic and meritocratic organisation model can generate sustainable organisations
and, as a result, a sustainable society.

The Sustainable Organisation Model

The following diagram illustrates the Sustainable Organisation Model. On the left, the
four pillars that characterise the model from the Old Economy; in the middle, the 16
drivers of change towards sustainability; on the right, the four pillars that characterise
the Sustainable Organisation – deeply enrooted in cooperation, recognition,
meritocracy and fair rewards to attain full sustainability.

To instil evolution – or revolution, depending on the organisation – from a typical to a

sustainable organisation, these 16 drivers are the essential tools of change. All of
them can, and must, be monitored through specific Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

First of all, Trust. This is an essential driver in the creation of a sustainable

organisation, as SAS has demonstrated so well. When associated with merit,
transparency and accountability, trust creates fairness and develops meritocratic
cultures further. Similarly to what happens in any human relation, trust comes first as a
driver for engagement, commitment, belief and vision. We have found the SAS
Institute to come as a recognised beacon when it comes to demonstrating the power
of trust and people in the development of the organisation.

When Trust is associated with Empowerment and Mentoring, then it becomes natural
to all the members of the organisation to feel part of a whole where there is a clear

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relationship between their involvement, contribution and reward. In a meritocratic
culture, Versatility in the roles of the organisation members and Flexibility in how they
get involved are major drivers towards full cooperation with Passion and Optimism. We
all know that humankind can do much better, especially in the long-term, through
cooperation.

Since the Sustainable Organisation is a meritocracy based on full cooperation, its

leadership paradigm is built on Recognition and driven by knowledge that naturally
generates Influence, Commitment and Respect by all and from all the members of the
organisation. Merit is a product of Knowledge and Transparency and thus, a
recognised and respected leader can be empowered by the energy of all the members
of an organisation. A universal example of such a recognised leader is obviously,
Ghandi.

Then, we have the Fair Reward system, which is one of the main tools of the
Sustainable Organisation model to ensure and demonstrate fairness and harmony.
Fairness in a meritocratic organisation, together with a recognised leadership, creates
a sense of Harmony among all the members, which in turn empowers Mobilisation.
Through clear metrics based on the contributions by each individual and team, the
organisation can ensure recognition at all levels. Undoubtedly, an organisation where
all the members receive direct feedback as individuals and as members of a team
naturally becomes united and fully mobilised.

The following diagram illustrates the relationship between the key attributes of a
Sustainable Organisation.

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The Sustainable Organisation Index
The Sustainable Organisation Index (SORG) is a corollary of this new model. It is a
simple and transparent tool that enables anyone to understand the real outcome of
any organisation from the perspective of sustainability, free from speculation and free
from manipulation.

In our hypothesis, an organisation is simply a group of people gathered around a

common purpose to serve the community. Furthermore, an organisation can be
sustainable if there is a balanced distribution of the economic flow generated among
the Owners, the Team (the employees) and the Community. The direct value of the
organisation’s activity is measured by its revenue and the positive or negative impact it
may generate over time.

The SORG is defined by:

Where:
C = is the economic benefit of the community as a result of the organisation’s activity
O = is the economic benefit of the owners of the organisation
M = is median salary of the employees of the organisation
A = is the average salary of the employees of the organisation
E = the highest salary in the organisation

In a sustainable organisation, SORG

Through the use of the SORG, we believe that anyone – inside or outside an
organisation – can easily and freely understand the real outcome and usefulness of
any given organisation, regardless of its size, location and purpose, anywhere at any
point in time. This is still unique today! In fact, in a Sustainable Organisation, the
SORG offers a much wider and comprehensive perspective of organisational value
when compared to market capitalisation, as it focuses solely on sustainability.

The Sustainable Organisation model hereby proposed originates from our curiosity to
understand the world we live in as well as an attempt to improve this world. We simply
want people to understand, think, compare and make wise decisions, based on the
premise that wisdom is the foundation of security and development. Founded on new
values, relationships, metrics and purposes, this Sustainable Organisation model is
our attempt to change the way that organisations are built and perceived by society.

As a transparent society is our major guarantee to security and development, we hope

this will represent a decisive contribution to a fair and sustainable society built on
sustainable organisations. We see the SAS Institute as a great example of how an
organisation can prove to be useful and become profitable in a sustainable manner
that shows balance at all the levels of the organisation.

July 16, 2015